Friday 19 February 2021

Battle Report Rorke's Drift in 6mm - Part 1

Several years ago I started building a collection of 6mm figures for the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879. I've playtested a variety of game systems with my figures and even had a go at writing something myself (unsuccessfully I should add) but in the end, I settled on The Men Who Would Be Kings by Daniel Mersey and published by Osprey. Now, this ruleset is not designed for 6mm games but I realised that with a few small changes and some house rules, I could get a workable game system for use with my 6mm collection. Last year I did a couple of solo games to test this out and earlier this year I posted my first couple of Battle Reports on my YouTube Channel. All of this has been building up to a battle that I have wanted to wargame for years; Rorke's Drift. 



Today's video is the first of three covering my preparation for the game and the battle itself. This week I discuss the history of the battle, highlighting some key details that stood out for me when I prepared for this game. Then I discuss my interpretation of the terrain, based on several maps, some contemporary some more modern. Then at the end of this video, I run through the house rules that I introduced that enabled me to adapt TMWWBK's for my 6mm figures and terrain. 


Next Friday part two of this battle report will cover the opening phases of the game and we get to see if the British can repeat history or if the Zulu's can overrun the small garrison defending the mission station at Rork's Drift. 

8 comments:

  1. Fascinating, Lee. I really enjoyed your historical background to the battle. Thank you.

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    1. Hope you enjoy the game when it gets under way next Friday.

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  2. Phil,
    Wow. Simply wow. Great use of TMWWBK.
    Nwil

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    1. Thank you. Its not designed for this scale but I've usually found that if you hit something hard enough with a crowbar you can make anything fit!

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  3. Really enjoyed your blogs. Going to convert to 6mm. Only started gaming in December so I am soaking knowledge I've painted a hell of a lot. But I enjoy your discussions. Just need a bit more guidance. Cheers.

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    1. Thank you for the kind words, I'm glad you have enjoyed my mad ramblings!

      6mm gaming has a lot going for it, not least the ability to build huge armies at a fraction of the cost of 15 or 28mm. I use Baccus figures almost exclusively, but only because they suit my style of painting. If I were to start out again I'd say its well worth buying a few test figures from a range of 6mm manufacturers (such as Irregular or Heroics & Ros) so you can decide which ranges fit your style. I still think I would have gone with Baccus but when I started buying their stuff I hadn't really looked at any of the alternatives.

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  4. Great stuff... I only got back into 6mm again last year (using a home-bashed variant of Sharp Practice). Good to see someone else tweaking a rule set to achieve something different.

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    1. Sometimes finding the exact set of rules for what you want to achieve is a fools errand, so I'm more than happy to change an existing set to get the game I want.

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